Garbage Day
by TheLostMaximoff
Summary: While the Brotherhood try to clean up the house, Toad reflects on his life and of course his love for a certain Scarlet Witch.


Garbage Day

By TheLostMaximoff

Disclaimer: Don't own this stuff. I haven't written anything from Toad's POV in a while so I decided to work on this since it's been bouncing around in my head for a few days. Enjoy and R/R

My clock's makin' a very annoyin' noise. That's funny, I don't remember ownin' a clock in the first place. Especially not one that would have the nerve to go off before dawn.

"Get up, you little slimeball," orders Pietro, "We have something very important to do today." We? Since when has the term "we" ever included Pietro?

"What's all this about?" asks Lance as he comes to my door to talk to Pietro. I groan and pull a pillow over my head. I wish Pietro would take that damn alarm clock he's got in his hand and shove it.

"We have a very important training session," explains Pietro. I groan again. Pietro's trainin' us ta be his slaves, that's about the only training it seems like we're gettin'.

"Oh great," replies Lance with sarcasm so obvious even someone as half-conscious as me can pick it up, "Why at four in the morning?"

"Duh," replies Pietro as if it's obvious, "Did you guys forget that today's garbage day?"

"So," I mumble, "I don't think we can fit the whole house into a garbage can." Pietro doesn't appreciate my humor. He's already across the hall in a second and trying to wake Wanda up.

"Pietro, why the hell is my alarm going off at this ungodly hour?" she asks as she steps into the hallway. I roll over so I can get a good look at her through my open door. Even fresh out of bed she looks beautiful.

"Because I set it to," replies Pietro, "C'mon, sis, get outta bed and please put something less revealing on. You might give Toad ideas." Ha, ha. Good one, sugar boy. As if I'd ever think of my darling Wanda in such a predatory way. Still, she does look sexy in that nightgown and at four in the morning it's a damn pleasant sight.

"Forget it," she mumbles, "I'm not even going to waste the energy blasting you. I'm going back to bed."

"Hey, this comes straight from the top," announces Pietro. Oh great. All aboard the Magneto guilt-trip.

"What?" asks Lance as he and Freddy join the party in the hallway. I wish someone would shut my door. I gotta start lockin' it at night.

"No joke," explains Pietro, "I had a meeting with Dad last night and he said we better start cleaning this place up." Hold on, I'll translate that for you. What Pietro really means is: My dad's pissed off at the lack of leadership I possess so I'm going to make the rest of you miserable too. Like Magneto gives a shit about what the place looks like. Last time I checked he hadn't even been here.

"Everybody move it," orders Pietro as he shoves the still-ringing alarm clock in my face, "That means you too, stink bomb."

Well, here we are. Pietro, as usual, decided he'd be the work supervisor. For those of you who aren't familiar with the job title, being the "supervisor" means not working and giving orders. Yeah, that's right up Pietro's alley.

"Man, I can't believe we still have some of this stuff," says Freddy as he stares at the pile of pizza boxes that are stacked near the couch. I sniff the air.

"Hey," I ask, "when was the last time I got to pick pizza toppings?" Freddy scratches his head.

"Last week, I think," he replies. I nod and open the box. Bingo. I thought I smelled anchovies. May be a week old but they're still good. I snag one that's almost engulfed in flies. Two snacks in one.

"Toad, that's thoroughly disgusting," states Wanda as she dumps the trash from her room into the garbage bag and moves into the kitchen, "I thought we had a deal."

"Sorry," I reply as I shoved the rest of a perfectly good breakfast in the sack. Of all days, why this week? See this week's extra special because me and Snugglebunny made a deal. I promised to try and not gross her out as much as usual and she agreed she would try and be nicer to me. Hey, a man's gotta make sacrifices for his woman, ya know?

I watch her as she opens the refrigerator and sniffs in disgust. Even at four in the morning with no makeup or anything she's still the most beautiful girl I've ever seen. I love her.

I've tried a lot of times to figure out just exactly what it is I love about Wanda Maximoff. It's not just the fact that, despite her cold exterior, she's very physically attractive. It's more than that. I can't really describe what it is. It's everything, yo. It's little things that all add up. I know that so much of who she is is all a front. That's one of the things the others don't see. They don't see the real Wanda, the one I love to call "cuddlebumps". That's why they can't understand what I see in her.

I sigh and look at the bag of garbage in my hand. Garbage, my life's been full of it. It's what I am, what I've been made to feel like all my life. I look at her again. I guess, more than anything, the thing that draws me to her the most is that she understands. She knows better than any of the others what it's like to be treated like trash, to just be dumped by people you love. She's been made to feel like shit her whole life, just like me. She knows how I feel.

I stop and correct myself. She used to know. No, she still knows but she just doesn't realize it. I mean if she really didn't remember any of what her dad did to her then why would she still be so mad all the time? She remembers even if she doesn't realize it. Some part of her knows why she's angry.

Sometimes I wanna just take a ball bat to the skull of anybody who's ever hurt her. Her dad, Pietro, her doctors, the asylum staff, everybody. I just wanna whack 'em all and say, "What the hell? She's not some tin can you can just kick around and then chuck in the dumpster when you're done. She's a person for God's sake and a beautiful one at that." I mean can't they tell what it's done to her? Do they even care?

Just out of curiosity once I asked Pietro what she was like when she was a kid, before all the asylum crap. He said she was pretty average, pretty happy despite losing her mom and then her father dumpin' 'em both. He said she loved the Maximoffs and she was really happy with them. They treated her like a princess. Someone needed to that's for sure. Thank God for them. He showed me a picture of him and Wanda when they were kids that he still keeps in his wallet. She was a cute kid, all smiles Pietro said. Sure she threw some tantrums and broke stuff but that was okay. That's what kids do, ya know?

How does her dad sleep at night? I wonder about that sometimes like I wonder the same thing about my parents. When my mutation kicked in my parents decided enough was enough and they'd rather have no kid at all than a frog for a son. So off I went to the orphanage where the people had to practically pay someone to adopt me. By that time I was used to being dumped, to being labeled as gross, disgusting, unloved. I was used to being tossed out like trash.

She should never have to feel that way. Nobody should actually but her less than people like me. I mean look at her, she's gorgeous. There's not a thing wrong with her. No stink, no blue fur, no extra head, no compound eyes, nothing. There's no reason for anyone to ever treat her the way she's been treated.

"Hey, Frog Boy," says Pietro, "Get a move on and stop leering at my sister." He's one to talk about leering. For the record I was not "leering". I was admiring. There's a difference.

Leering at my Crimson Cutie? Never. I don't even think of her that way. It's more than the fact that she's hot, especially in that tight, red uniform. It's more than the fact that as bad as my chances are with her it's still better than with a normal girl. It's love, the kind where you care about the person first and yourself second. That's how I feel about her.

I stuff some more unrecognizable items into my trash bag and then hop out the door to chuck it in the can. I look around to make sure Wanda isn't looking and then snag another anchovy. It's a bad habit I know but it's who I am. We all got things about ourselves we don't like. Fred's got his weight problems, Wanda's got her temper, Pietro's got his issues with trying to impress his dad. I mean do you honestly think I like the fact that I eat flies. Hell no, I know it's disgusting but like it or not it's not gonna go away anytime soon.

I turn to go inside and watch Wanda come out the door. The sun catches her just right and makes her creamy, white skin almost blinding to look at. For a moment it's like she's shining, like an angel. I stare back at the garbage can. That's what I am to her: garbage, scum, filth. Sometimes I just think about giving up. She'll never love me. Then I stop and realize that I'm only trying to make myself happy if I think like that. Instead I should try and make her happy because that's what she deserves.

I sigh as I go back inside. What's that old saying? One man's trash is another man's treasure? Yeah, that's it. I look at her as she stands outside staring at the sunrise. Everybody's Scarlet Witch is my Snugglebunny. I'll never stop loving her, caring about her. I'll still try to make her smile, make her laugh. Who knows, maybe everybody else's Toad, everybody else's punching bag, can someday become one Wanda's prince charming.


End file.
